North Korean hackers have successfully laundered $300 million from the massive $1.5 billion crypto heist targeting ByBit Exchange.

Cybersecurity experts point to the Lazarus Group, a state-backed hacking team, as the primary orchestrator behind the attack. Within two hours of the breach, the stolen funds were dispersed across 50 wallets, each holding roughly 10,000 ETH, before being systematically emptied over the following nine days. Analysts warn that North Korea remains the most sophisticated crypto launderer, continuously evolving its tactics to evade detection and asset recovery.

Since 2017, North Korea-linked hackers have stolen over $6 billion in crypto, with much of it allegedly funding the country’s ballistic missile program. The ByBit hack now stands as the largest cryptocurrency theft in history, surpassing the $611 million stolen from Poly Network in 2021. According to blockchain analytics firm Elliptic, this theft may also be the largest known financial heist of any kind, breaking a record previously held by Saddam Hussein, who looted $1 billion from Iraq’s Central Bank in 2003.